LECTURE RESOURCES: Read this lecture in Team-GPT, it is interactive and contains notes and comments from the author.
So far in this course, you’ve only had great conversations!
Having good chats with ChatGPT is all about the: Goal and Context.
In this lecture, we will have a bad chat.
Table of contents
Misunderstanding: ChatGPT and the Barcelona Example
I love Barcelona. It is one of my favorite cities in the world. The architecture, the beach, the vibe,
everything is just sublime.
Let me ask ChatGPT: ‘Why is Barcelona so good?’
ChatGPT replied with: Barcelona, more specifically the FOOTBALL CLUB Barcelona.
Wow. So bad.
This has nothing to do with what I wanted…
I wanted to know more about ‘Barcelona the city’. This is a prime example of really bad prompting.
People are guilty of them all the time.
This is also the prime reason why people don’t find ChatGPT useful.
The Need for Context and Goal in Prompting
Let’s try this one more time.
“Why is the city of Barcelona so good? I really love the architecture and urban planning.”
The results are much better, aren’t they? Yes. Because we provided a bit more context.
Can we level this up even more?
Handy Tip: Create 2 separate sections for your prompt. One is context, the other is goal.
The Importance of Detailed Context and Goal Setting
Make sure to always define the goal well.
Prompting is all about explaining what you want to achieve.
If you can WRITE what you want to achieve, then you have much better chances to achieve it.
Train your ability to define clear goals when prompting.
This will help you get better with ChatGPT over time.
Add as many details as you can think of.
💡 This lesson is a part of the ChatGPT for Work course
The course is interactive, if you take it inside the Team-GPT platform.
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• 100+ tried and tested prompts
• 100+ exercises
• 100+ extra notes and comments
• 1000s of use cases
• PDFs files for later reference
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Learning How to Define Goals and Create Context through Exercises
1. Learn a new skill
Handy Tip: When providing the context, you can always use this simple trick: ‘Ask me several clarifying questions to gain more context.’
There are things we do not think about while providing context on our own.
Feel free to explore the whole sample chat I’ve provided on how to learn a new skill right here.
2. Deal with stress
Feel free to explore the sample chat I’ve provided on how to deal with stress right here.
3. Save for retirement
Note that sometimes your GOAL can change a bit because after providing the CONTEXT, you understand the question itself better.
Feel free to explore the sample chat I’ve provided on how to save for retirement right here.
4. Help with Excel formula
Handy Tip: Use ChatGPT. Excel has never been easier!
5. Other religions
Sometimes we can define a new Goal -> comparison between different things (in our case – religions).
Comparisons are a great technique for learning new information.
Feel free to explore the sample chat I’ve provided on religions right here.
6. Set up a blog
In this conversation with ChatGPT I used the this prompt which is extremely important: ‘think about this step by step’.
It is one of the most successful prompts ever (proven by research).
It is called ‘Zero-shot chain of thought’. You can read more about it here.
Feel free to explore the sample chat I’ve provided on how to set up a blog right here.
7. Negotiate salary
Feel free to explore the sample chat I’ve provided on how to negotiate salary right here.
8. Train my dog
Feel free to explore the sample chat I’ve provided on how to train a dog right here.
9. Write a social media post
In our example, in terms of context, we have literally COPY-PASTED the whole article (all the context on the topic).
This is actually a very good practice.
Remember: The more context, the better.
You can also provide even more context by providing examples on how you want the result to look like.
We call this ‘prompting by example. You can read more about it here.
Feel free to explore the sample chat I’ve provided on how to write a social media post right here.
10. Compare two cities
Feel free to explore the sample chat I’ve provided on how to compare two cities right here.
Optimal Usage of ChatGPT
Let’s recap:
- If you use ChatGPT like Google with 5-word questions… you’ll have a bad time.
- If you provide the context and the goal you are trying to achieve, you’ll get very useful results.
The general rule is: The more information you provide, the better.
Thank you!